Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1887-05-11

stand the terrible spectacle no longer
and, taking deliberate aim at the lion.
ess, behind her shoulder blade, let fiy.
Above the rumble of the smooth bore
sounded the shrek Of the lioness as the
heavy ball crashed into her vitals. The
two dueliStS at once ceased their en-
counter and as one of them turned he
received Maccovoy's rifle bullet in the
head, the missile piercing the hollow
over the eye, where the skull is weak
and entering the brain; death was
almost instantaneous. The other male
with laundering woofl gave a mighty
spring and landed half way up the tree
trunk, nearly shaking US from our
perch. Asilla hastily discharged one of
the spare guns, slap bang into his face,
but probably the charge only grazed
him, for falling back he disappeared into
the darkness toward where the means
and cries of the lioness grew fainter and
fainter every moment.
The moon being on the wane, after
all sounds had ceased we returned to
camp, with many promises to each
other to take up the Spoor of our
wounded enemies in the morning and
track them to their death. Accordingly
at daybreak, with party of fifty Arab
beaters we returned to the ''standn and
were soon on the spoor of the wounded
lioness. The sand was torn up for quite
a space, as if the animal had suffered
terrible agony and following the trail
for at least nine miles in a southeasterly
direction, the dogs gave tongue at a
tamarisk brake, that extended on three
sides of quite body of brackish water.
Some four or five of the dogs, of better
blood than the average Arab cur,
dashed into the tangle, and the next
instant we had the satisfaction of see
ing the mangled remains of one flung
into the air, from about the center of
the patch. \ chorus of yelps and snarl-
ingS now set in and one disconsolate one
limped painfully out his ribs bare of
flesh where the lIoness' paw had struck
him. We are now IN a predicament.
After an hours Internal clatter by the
the beaters, we were as far from getting
her royal highneSS out as ever, for show
herself she would not. "If the tamarisk
is only dry enough" quoth Mac, ''we
can soon smoke her OUT" and he gall
loped round through the beaters and
soon volley of flaming torches rained
into the brake. This fetched her. She
made gallant charge out and almost
up to us, before we gave her all four
barrels. 1t stopped her and for a
moment the noble beast seemed stun
ned. Then as the smoke cleared away,
we saw her return to the shelter. More
torches were thrown in and four sepa-
rate times did the desperate honess
charge atIus dauntlesslyandreceive our
fire, before finally biting the dust.
She had eleven bullet holes in her,
the smashed shoulder blade had given
her the night before. With that bullet
IN her (which had passed through her
and lay against her ribs ON the opposite
side to that it had entered), she had
Travelled neatly nine miles, had made
five determined rushes, killed and dis
abled four dogs and died like the heroine
she was in midcharge. And Maccovoy,
turning to me, ASKED: ssDoctor, d. you
still hold TO the opinion that a lion is no
better than dog?" Ard / could find
no answer, save words of praise for the
noble creature that lay dead before us.
Too much time had elapsed for to track
the other lion successfully, the spoor
having been obliterated by the feet Of
other game. But two lions out of three
wasn't such bad work for twenty-four
hours, after all and we returned to
camp fully satisfied with our days
sport.